Trauma and progression of marginal periodontitis in squirrel monkeys

This investigation was undertaken to characterize the changes which occurred to the interproximal alveolar bone between adjacent teefh which were being moved alternately mesially and distally. Mandibular second and third bicuspids in ten squirrel monkeys were subjected to alternating periodontal stresses for 10 weeks and they became mobile during this period. Histologic examination showed an initial phase of intense resorptive activity associated with the coronal alveolar bone, and the morphology of this bone eventually consisted of a number of osseous islands surrounded by a loosely arranged, highly vascular and cellular connective tissue. Histometric comparison of this bone with that from normal specimens showed that the trauma caused a loss in crestal height and a great overall reduction in the percentage of coronal alveolar bone. There was no loss in connective tissue attachment verifying that traumatic lesions and their sequelae in the periodontal ligament do not produce periodontal pockets.